"Very well. If you would be so good as to escort us back to my shuttle, I shall begin preparations at once."

On the way back, Alia fielded Anika's questions. "You'll still be taking the pilgrims, of course. The deal has been negotiated, it would be odd if it was cancelled now. I shall think of something to say to Auntie, of course, though I'm still not certain I'll be coming with you at all. As much as Lord-Captain Absalom's plan is a good one, and will deflect suspicion, the most prudent course of action may still be to stay here. She'll be displeased with the discontinuation of the Stalker, but with what you've uncovered it was clearly about to become nonviable."

At the shuttle, Alia went inside, and came back out holding the Stalker's armour. This was turned over, as promised, and with some level of trepidation - the first they had really seen from her - she and her retinue all submitted to Ravia's collection of samples. Then they departed. Ravia's samples would take some time to run, and while they were, Macharius and company returned to Scintilla, and Hive Sibellus.

This time, they didn't land at the main port, instead sweeping out over the steel-grey ocean and coming back in towards the skirts of the hive, where it met the cliffs high above pounding waves and salt-tanged spray. This provided access to some of the deeper parts of the underhive, albeit through a precarious array of crumbling gantries that no sane person would willingly traverse. Naturally, this made them a perfect 'hideout' for the Stalker, and by the time Macharius had picked a suitably stable looking platform to land on, Alia was already waiting for them next to a maintenance access door held permanently open by a thick layer of corrosion and rust.

"I thought I might sweeten our bargain a little, by my selection of 'criminal,'" she said, indicating an unconscious woman trussed up just inside the door. "Meet Cecilia Denaire. She's conveniently about my size, from some distant branch of the family with no real chance to ever inherit much. She has an unfortunate habit of sneaking off from the schola to frequent underhive obscura dens, which is where we ambushed her. No doubt she also has other unfortunate habits, such as donning winged armour and preying on the city's nobility." Alia smirked.

Getting her into the armour was no small task, but it was managed well enough, with Alia's experience using the suit and no need for undue haste. The fit wasn't perfect, and likely wouldn't be for anyone but Alia unless the fit and gene-coding were adjusted, but as long as they didn't allow anyone to examine the suit closely the story would be simple to sell. Especially since the Stalker murders would, Alia assured them, cease. With a swing of Macharius' hammer, and a single wet thud, the ruse was complete.



The fanfare was loud, and suitably boisterous.

Macharius called on Etula's gratitude for an audience with Marius Hax, and presented the "Stalker" to a stunned and gracious governor. He claimed the armour as a trophy of the fight, after displaying the crushed helmet for Marius' benefit, and wove a tale of a hard-fought battle amidst the twists and turns of the underhive. Alia had gone through and roughed up the area, so signs of a struggle would be present if anyone bothered to check. Hax was paranoid and suspicious enough to do so, and when his teams returned with reports of obvious damage and several pieces of evidence planted by Alia and her espionage crew, including a sword the Stalker had 'lost' down a ventilation shaft, the illusion was complete.

Governor Hax threw them a parade.

The local PDF was turned out, resplendant in their dress uniforms, images of the Stalker's body and word of their origins were spread to every news and propaganda outlet on the planet, and the city's nobility let out the collective breath they had all been holding. Wine, Amasec and stronger spirits flowed like water, and Hax himself pinned a medal to Macharius' chest. The Rogue Trader's social calendar was, all of a sudden, extremely full indeed. Every remaining day between the parade and the departure of the Manticore's Sting from low orbit, Macharius was bombarded with dozens of invitations, social calls, gifts, and well-wishes from the good and great of Sibellus. He also recieved a thick packet of papers stamped with the Kindjal seal, which proved to contain a wealth of information - everything Isaiah had been able to dredge up on House Denaire. There was a rundown of the factions, with margin notes on members and who hated whom, a collection of reports on known activities, and most importantly, the name of the person who had ordered the attacks on House Absalom: Selene Denaire. Head of the traditionalist faction, and captain of the Augur of Prometheus.

Amidst the celebrations and confetti, while Macharius and Alia were attending yet another function in their honour - this one thrown by Edmund Hamsha, who Macharius had sent warnings and entreaties to, in the days before they had solved the puzzle of the Stalker - the young Kindjal scion recieved a note by rapid courier. Unfolding it, she scanned the first few lines, and let it fall to the floor with a strange expression on her face. She turned to the Rogue Trader, and lowered her face.

"Apologies, Lord Captain. I must find our host, and take my leave. I.. my aunt has died."